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Children’s Intuitive Theories of Academic Performance
Author(s) -
Muradoglu Melis,
Cimpian Andrei
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13325
Subject(s) - psychology , child development , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , developmental stage theories , academic achievement , social psychology
How do children reason about academic performance across development? A classic view suggests children’s intuitive theories in this domain undergo qualitative changes. According to this view, older children and adults consider both effort and skill as sources of performance (i.e., a “performance = effort + skill” theory), but younger children can only consider effort (i.e., a “performance = effort” theory). Results from two studies ( N = 240 children aged 4–9) contradict the claim of theory change, suggesting instead that children as young as 4 operate with an intuitive theory of academic performance that incorporates both effort and skill as explanatory concepts. This work reveals that children’s understanding of academic performance is more continuous across development than previously assumed.